Phacopida

Calymene blumenbachii

Order Phacopida / Suborder Calymenina / Superfamily Calymenoidea / Family Calymenidae

Homerian (Wenlock, Silurian)UK

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 1 — Photo 1 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 2 — Photo 2 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 3 — Photo 3 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 4 — Photo 4 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 5 — Photo 5 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 6 — Photo 6 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 7 — Photo 7 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 8 — Photo 8 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Calymene blumenbachii — photo 9 — Photo 9 · Blumenbach, a surname, the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who discussed and figured Lectotype UPMC3409/77 (UK; left: Brongniart's 1822 sketch, Mikulic et al., 2007; right: specimen figure, Siveter 1985) Brongniart's 1822 sketch (Mikulic et al., 2007) Literature specimen (UK; Secher 2024) A Victorian-era brooch of Calymene blumenbachii mounted in gold (Xing Luda et al. 2017) Literature specimens BU53, NOTNH FS3301/1, BIRUG BU5324, BIRUG BU2461 (UK; Kennedy et al., 2018)

Classification

Order Phacopida / Suborder Calymenina / Superfamily Calymenoidea / Family Calymenidae

Genus

Calymene Brongniart, 1822

Genus author

Brongniart A.

Genus etymology

Calymene = Calymmene, from Greek kekalymmenē, covered, hidden

Species

C. blumenbachii Brongniart, 1822

Species author

Brongniart A.

Species etymology

this trilobite repeatedly in his works of the late 18th to early 19th centuries; his 1800 work inspired Brongniart's naming of this genus and species

Age

Homerian (Wenlock, Silurian)

Distribution

Synonyms

Trilobus tuberculatus; Calymene blumenbachi; Calymene tuberculatus; Calymene lata

Diagnosis

Cephalon semi-elliptical; glabella bell-shaped, densely covered with fine nodes, three pairs of glabellar furrows, L2 nipple-shaped and connected to the opposite palpebral area of the fixigenae; gonatoparian facial sutures. Thorax of 13 segments, axis subequal in width to pleurae; pleural furrows deep, pleural ends rounded. Pygidium medium-sized, subrhomboidal; axis with 6 rings plus a terminal piece; border absent. Calymene is the first genus established in the modern classification of trilobites, and its author A. Brongniart is therefore regarded as the "father of trilobite systematics". This species is the type species of the genus Calymene

Remarks

and is the signature fossil of Dudley, England. It has played an extremely important role in trilobite research, including establishing that trilobites are arthropods. It is commonly known as the "Dudley Fossil", "Dudley Locust" or "Dudley Bug".